Hat-blocking machine.



7N0. 881,509. "PATENTED MAR. 1 0, 1908:

A. B. WARING. HAT BLOCKING MACHINE.

ABPLIUATION FILED APB.20, 1905.

PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

J Inventor,

Arfhu B. Warigg Alto A. B. WARING.

HAT BLOCKING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED APR,20,1905.

Wasses= .AgxwM ARTHUR B. WARING, OF YONKEBS, NEW YORK.

HAT-B LOCKING MACHINE Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 10, 1908 Application filed April 20, 1905. Serial No. 256,520.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR B. WARING, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Yonkers, county of Westchester, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat- Blocking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manner of holding hat brims in the operation of hat blocking, whereby the strains incident to blocking, which in previous constructions have been to a certain extent concentrated at the line of junction of the brim and crown are by the construction of this invention distributed over a considerable portion of the brim. This results, in my invention, from the provision of separate clamping means for the inner and outer edges of the hat brim, in the form of two concentric rings which clamp the brim of'the hat against a heated platen with a central opening. Both clamping rings are lifted from and clamped against the platen by a power-operated reciprocating member, and the outer ring clamped with sufficient force to hold the brim from slipping, but the inner ring is clamped through comparatively light springs which limit the clamping pressure so that when the hat block is forced into the hat, the felt of the brim which underlies the inner ring and is within the outer ring, as well as the fiber of the crown, will yield more or less in the shaping of the hat body. 'The inner ring, however, is clamped sufliciently to insure intimate contact with the heated platen, so that all parts of the brim will be evenly flattened pressed and heated. The brim clamps are power-operated, so that the operator is reieved of the heavier part of the power required. But the hat block, in the form of my invention herein illustrated, is hand operated, this being desirable, so that the operator may know how the hat is res onding to the blocking treatment, from the orce which he has to exert, and can avoid undue straining of the hat. These several features of my invention have been arranged in the form illustrated with a view to the utilization in art of the power mechanism set forth in nited States Letters Patent No. 724,404, granted to me March 3, 1903, to which reference is made for such details of construction as are not herein fully illustrated and described.

top view of a portion of the machine.

Referring now to the accompanying two sheets of drawings which form 9. art of this application :Figure 1 is a side e ovation of a hat blocking machine, embodying the several features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a Fig. 3 is a front view of the machine, with the brimclamps in section.

The several parts of the machine are supported in a main frame 1. A steam chest 2 with a central opening is fixed in the upper part of the frame, and forms a fixed heated platen, a ainst theu per face of which a hat may be c amped. perating above this are an outer rin 3 and concentric therewith an inner ring 4, 0th in the form of steam chests, in the invention as illustrated, so that they may be heated. Both of these rings operate to clamp the hat-brim against the steam chest or platen which is fixed in the frame. The outer rin in conjunction With that ortion of the fixed platen against which it clamps the hat, constitutes a clamping means for the outer edge of the hat-brim, and the inner ring, in conjunction with that portion of the fixed platen against which it clamps the hat, constitutes a clamping means for the inner portion of the hat-brim. The inner rin is supported from brackets 5 5 attached to t e outer ring through bolts 6 6 which slide the brackets. Between the brackets and the inner ring are light springs 7 7 which serve as elastic abutments for and limit the clamping pressure of the inner ring, and the inner margin of the hat brim will be clamped lightly so that this part of the brim can slip under the clamping means when it is strained. The outer ring is supported on the upper ends of vertically sliding side rods 8 8 which constitute a reciprocating mechanism in the machine and operate both inner and outer clamping means, as shown, the outer clamping means being directly connected to the reciprocating member, and the inner clamping means being indirectly connected through the outer clamping means, but this is immaterial. The outer clamping ring is held in place on the side rods by springs 9 9 which are under considerable tension and insure a comparatively rigid clamping of the outer margin of the hat brim. These springs yield more or less according to the thickness of the brim which is being clamped and since the side rods are positively reciprocated by the power mechanism through a definite range, the machine is thereby saved from injury in the event of an undue thickness of felt being placed in the machine. The

power-driven mechanism comprises a belt- 5 driven pulley on a main shaft 11, and auxiliary shafts 12 and 13 which are geared therewith. On the ends of the latter shaft are earns 14 14 which engage levers 15 15, the levers being connected through links 16 16 with a vertically sliding side rod, and actuate the clamping rings.

A hat-block 17 preferably made of metal and hollow, so that it can be heated by a gasburner contained therein, is mounted on a spindle 18 which slides in a bracket 19 attached conveniently to the outer clamping ring. A hand lever 20 mounted on the same bracket, connects with the spindle for the operation of the hat-block. The hand lever zcfmoves through a small angle above and below the horizontal and the spindle to which the lever is connected without intervening toggles, elbow levers or cams, has a vertical thrust at about right angles to the lever so "that the ratio between the force applied to the lever handle and the strain put on the hat will be in substantially the same ratio in all positions of the lever. The strain of blocking can therefore be readily felt and 3Qagaged by the operator. The hat-block is driven into the crown through the inner clamping ring, and the crown protrudes through the fixed platen. As the thrust of the hat block is in the direction of the fixed platen, the clamping tension with which the inner clamping means clamps the brim is not diminished by the thrust. The hand lever moves past a scale 21 to which a gage 22 is clamped. The scale is graduated to show the distance to which the hat block is thrust through the brim clamps, and the consequent height of crown when the lever is brought down to the gage. A latch 23 is provided for latching down the lever, so that the operator -may have more time to attend to other machines.

l/Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a hat blocking machine, the combination of separate clamping means for the inner and outer edges of a hatbrim, a reciprocating member, connections between both clamping means and the reciprocating member whereby both clamping means are concurrently operated and the clamping means for the inner edge of the hat-brim less positively clamped than the clamping means 101 the outer edge ol the hat-brim, a hatblock, and means for moving the hat-block through the brim-clamps, substantially as described.

2. I11 a hat blocking machine, the combination of separate clamping means for the inner and outer edges of a hat-brim, a reciprocating member, connections between the outer clamping means and the reciprocating member, elastic connections between the inner clamping means and the outer clamping means whereby the clamping means for the inner edge ol the hat-brim is less positively clamped than the outer ed e of the hat-brim, a hat-block, and means 'lor moving the hatblock through the brimclamps, substantially as described.

3. In a hat blocking machine, the combination of separate clamping means for the inner and outer edges of a hat-brim, means for heating the clamping means, a reciproeating member, connections between both clamping means and the reciprocating member whereby both clamping means are concurrently operated and the clamping means for the inner edge of the hat-brim is less positively clamped than the clamping means for the outer edge 01 the hat-brim, a hatblock, and means for moving the hat-bloek through the brim-clamps, substantially as described.

4. In a hat blocking machine, the combination of separate clamping means lor the inner and outer edges of a hat-brim, a reciprocating member, connections between both clamping means and the reciprocating member whereby both clamping means are concurrently operated and the clamping means for the inner edge of the hat-brim is less positively clamped than the clamping means for the outer edge of the hat-brim, a hatblock and a hand lever for moving the hatblock through the brim-clamps, substantially as described.

Signed by me at Yonkers, New York, this 18th day of April, 1905.

ARTHUR B. WARING.

Witnesses JULIUs TACKMAN, E. H. SHERWOOD. 

